The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

Loading ...

Loading ...

This story appears in the {{article.article.magazine.pretty_date}} issue of {{article.article.magazine.pubName}}. Subscribe

Incubator and seed investment firm 500Startups held its Demo Day for its third batch of companies Wednesday at its Mountain View, Calif. offices.

The 34 companies covered a broad spectrum from photo- and video-sharing services to ecommerce sites to food and farming. There was also a focus on education and kids. The batch had a strong international flavor, with a number of the companies hailing from overseas. Here are some companies that caught my eye, followed by the full list of companies from this group.

PostRocket - The startup helps companies marketing on Facebook by deciphering Facebook's "Edgerank" algorithm, which determines when and whether people see posts on their Facebook News Feed. This helps companies determine not only when the best times to post are, but what type of content: image, video, link or text to post. It also helps them determine what messages are most effective in getting people to click. The founders dropped out of college to start the company.

HighScore House - The company tries to find a better way for parents to bribe kids than their allowances. Just kidding. These days, the founders say, kids are interested in more than just money, they want non-monetary things like access to media, their computer, and the like. HighScore House turns doing chores into a game. Kids earn points or "household currency" for doing chores. Then they can redeem the points for a variety of things, such as time watching TV or a new game.

SafeShepherd - Previously covered by my colleague Andy Greenberg under its previous name, SafeShepherd aggregate and shows people all of the information about them that's posted online, such as address, phone numbers, family members and the like. It then provides an easy way to opt-out of all of these services. It's an easy way for people to protect their privacy.

Farmeron - The company provides web-based tools for farmers to manage their farm production and animals, right down to the individual cow. It's not the type of industry you normally think of for web or tech startups. By monitoring equipment in a farm, the company can chart how individual animals are performing over time, and then improve income for farmers. The biggest benefit for farmers is saving time for farmers analyzing and managing all the data that comes out of their farms, says cofounder Matija Kopic. The company originally came from Croatia, where Kopic grew up on a farm.

GoVoluntr - A gaming-oriented service that helps companies provide community service programs for their employees. The service is like a social game. Employees choose to volunteer for a cause. The hours they log give them points that can be redeemed for a variety of awards or prizes. A former regional manager for Starbucks, CEO Young Han saw the benefits for Starbucks locations when employees volunteered. The startup is now testing the service with Starbucks. The gamification angle inside companies is like Keas is for health, but GoVoluntr is for volunteering.

Fitocracy - What if exercise was actually fun, not a chore? That's the idea for this startup, which makes exercise into a social game. People get points and achievements for workouts and other real-life exercise. The idea is to share achievements with friends and support each other through using the service. That's different than getting points or achievements for playing a social game. The connected health space is very crowded with a number of startups in this space.